The advertisement of a New York artist. Interestingly, I have seen such painted cows convene in Luxembourg a while ago. Maybe, I find a photo of this one’s “colleagues”…

Greenwich Village - or just “the village” - really comes to life at night. Pubs, bars, night-life and trendy shops seem to never close.

Ever thought about the shortness of life when seeing a snowman? This specimen is made of concrete…
Seen on Madeira (Portugal).

Edited: Please note, there now is a special gallery with 50 photos from Madeira

Just an advertisement or a political statement? Is it art or just bad taste? Sometimes it’s hard to draw the line…

An old boat lying in the grass under a palm tree. Seen on San Andrés (Colombia).

On Madeira, wherever you find a house, there’s also a garden. Easy to understand that Madeira is also called the “island of flowers”.

Edited: Please note, there now is a special gallery with 50 photos from Madeira

Lago Atitilan a huge (and beautiful) lake in Guatemala.

but a nice atmosphere. Hostal “Tica Linda” in the center of San Jose.

According to our guidebook the cliffs of Cabo Girão are the second highest in the world.
A beautiful viewpoint.

Edited: Please note, there now is a special gallery with 50 photos from Madeira

One special attraction of walking on Madeira are the so-called “levadas” canals carrying water to remote fields.
They are easy enough to follow and sometimes you can even walk on the levada itself.

Edited: Please note, there now is a special gallery with 50 photos from Madeira

“Madeira” means “wood” in Portuguese - and even today large parts of the island are covered by woods.
Nowadays, most of the woods are mainly Eucalyptus (gum) trees, whereas the native laurel trees are only restricted to small part of the inner island.
In any case, it’s nice to walk here, although the whether may change any minute and fog may close in on you very rapidly.

Edited: Please note, there now is a special gallery with 50 photos from Madeira

Aloe-plant in Santana, Madeira.

Edited: Please note, there now is a special gallery with 50 photos from Madeira

Ashino-ko lake is a crater lake and only a few thousand years old.
On it’s shores, there’s a small red Torii which is illuminated at night.

The salt pans in Xwieni Bay (Gozo, Malta) are in use even today

Under a palm tree: beach of San Andrés

The beach of Acapulco (Mexico)

When my slide scanner (Minolta Dimage II) started generating strange error messages and very often completely refused to cooperate, I was tempted to just replace it.
Then, I thought better of it and looked for a software update.
Couldn’t find anything on http://konicaminolta.com/
Even searching the site did not bring me to a download section.
So I wrote a short mail and was positively surprised when I received an answer 2 days later.
The mail by Minolta contained a link to driver update and my scanner has functioned very well ever since.
So, before dishing out that money for an expensive repair or a new scanner, you might want to try a software update first.

Laurenz

Town Square of Camacha Madeira (Portugal)..
Camacha is well known as the village of “basket makers”.

Edited: Please note, there now is a special gallery with 50 photos from Madeira

Seen on Madeira (Portugal).

Edited: Please note, there now is a special gallery with 50 photos from Madeira

A view from the gardens of the Generalife in Granada, Andalusia.
The Alhambra and the Generalife actually make up one complex, but the summer palace of the Nasride dynasty is much less known than the Alhambra.
A pity as the beautiful garden are exactly the right spot to relax a bit and recover from the stress of the multitudes visiting the palaces. This place has water basins, fountains, palm, cypress and orange trees, abundant flowers and a breathtaking view.

The Mezquita (mosque) of Cordoba is an architectural wonder, even today, although building a Cathedral in its center did not exactly improve it.
Even the emperor Carlos (Charles) V is said to have commented as follows: “You have destroyed something unique in the world and built something that can be found anywhere.”
Well, nice quote, but after all it was Carlos himself who had ordered the construction of the cathedral.
Still, the maze of columns is breathtakingly beautiful.

At first glance, the similarities between Chinese and Western Chess are obvious:
There are 64 squares, but Chinese chess is played on the lines between them.
The broad line in the center symbolises the yellow river.
Like in Western chess, there are 16 pieces with different rank and capabilities.
Instead of a king, there’s a “general”. The “general” can not only be captured like in normal chess, but actually taken (like in some fast chess variations).
This game is very popular. Here you can see an unused board, the two players on the left actually play on the next board.

seen in Wiesbaden, Deutschland.

A very quiet atmosphere.

An aloe plant in Nerja, Andalusia.

Nerja, a pretty town in Andalusia (Southern Spain). Most buildings are still in the traditional style, but there already are many new bungalows built by foreigners.

A small shed in a rice paddy. Northern Bali, Indonesia.

There also is a special gallery on “religions of the World” at my Online Photo Galleries.

Near Kunming, there is a famous “stone forest” - high rocks and boulders that actually look like a wood or forest.
In between there are many beautiful spots with romantic pools and flowers.
Needless to say that many tourist groups come her…

Miyajima is renowned as one of the most beautiful attractions in Japan. In the background you can see the famous “floating torii”, the entrance to the Itsukushi Shrine, that stands inthe water at high tide.